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i can't stop thinking about meatpacking. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/25/business/coronavirus-meatpacking-plants-cases.html
at a single Tyson meat processing plant in Iowa, 730 employees (58% of workers) tested positive for #COVID19 https://who13.com/news/covid-19-state-of-iowa-releases-new-details-on-workplace-outbreaks/
here in LA there have been outbreaks at 9 meat processing plants (including the Farmer John plant which produces the dodger dog, where 153 workers have tested positive.) https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2020-05-24/coronavirus-outbreaks-occur-at-9-industrial-facilities-in-vernon
according to the CDC, close to one-fifth of the slaughterhouse workforce in Iowa and South Dakota have tested positive. https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/69/wr/mm6918e3.htm?s_cid=mm6918e3_w
yesterday @ddayen's newsletter called my attention to the potential for price-fixing in the meatpacking industry. it seems that the pandemic has created perfect conditions for the big 4 meatpackers to carve out a nice chunk of surplus value for themselves. https://prospect.org/coronavirus/unsanitized-few-weeks-to-stop-a-depression/
but, a twist! according to a analysis by @foodandwater, even though retail meat prices are soaring, the amount of meat in cold storage has actually increased quite a bit from last years levels. http://foodandwaterwatch.org/sites/default/files/usdaanalysismeatpolicy2020_0.pdf
between the 8th and 14th of May, we exported a casual 109,588,500 pounds of pork.
from the USDA: "Pork: Exports of 49,700 MT--a marketing-year high--were up noticeably from the previous week and up 36 percent from the prior 4-week average."
https://apps.fas.usda.gov/export-sales/highlite.htm
from the USDA: "Pork: Exports of 49,700 MT--a marketing-year high--were up noticeably from the previous week and up 36 percent from the prior 4-week average."
https://apps.fas.usda.gov/export-sales/highlite.htm
when Trump issued his executive order to designate meat packing as an essential business, we were told it was because of an imminent meat shortage. but he declined to limit exports. https://www.cnbc.com/2020/05/01/trump-push-to-open-meatpackers-comes-as-pork-producers-profit-from-china-exports.html
side note -- last fall the Trump admin decided to:
1) reduce the total number of USDA inspectors at pork plants by 40%
2) run slaughter lines without any speed limit https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/white-house/trump-administration-allows-pork-slaughterhouses-have-fewer-usda-inspectors-n1055451
1) reduce the total number of USDA inspectors at pork plants by 40%
2) run slaughter lines without any speed limit https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/white-house/trump-administration-allows-pork-slaughterhouses-have-fewer-usda-inspectors-n1055451
from Eric Schlosser (the author of Fast Food Nation): "The speed of production and the amount of revenue are inextricably linked. Whenever possible, worker injuries aren’t allowed to slow the throughput." https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2020/05/essentials-meatpeacking-coronavirus/611437/
safety precautions slow down productions but injured workers cost money. Tyson has responded to that cost/benefit analysis by waging an all out war against workers comp. https://www.propublica.org/article/tyson-foods-secret-recipe-for-carving-up-workers-comp
yes #covid19 is different than flu strains mike davis, rob wallace, etc. have been warning us about for years. but our meat industry has been the subject of much discussion re: causing/perpetuating a global pandemic. i think it's safe to say these companies were prepared for this
as always, the motive at the end of the rabbit hole is one of profit over people.
"The industry has perfected a formula which allows it to maximize profit... by resisting regulations and utilizing low cost, mostly immigrant, labor in unsafe conditions. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/may/02/meat-plant-workers-us-coronavirus-war
"The industry has perfected a formula which allows it to maximize profit... by resisting regulations and utilizing low cost, mostly immigrant, labor in unsafe conditions. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/may/02/meat-plant-workers-us-coronavirus-war
anyway i’ll go back to dog content now, here’s lito with his copy of the jungle
